Return enumeration forms or risk losing voter status: Hyderabad District Election Officer

Hyderabad district election officer R.V.Karnan has warned that the electors who do not return the filled-up enumeration forms to Booth Level Officers during their house-to-house visits as part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls will be removed from voters’ list.

Even if the form is not filled in all respects, they can merely sign their name and attach the latest photo when they return the forms, but return they must, he cautioned while addressing a media conference on Monday. Names of the persons who do not return the forms will be prominently displayed in ERO’s office and on the Telangana Chief Electoral Officer’s website.

Mr.Karnan, who is also the GHMC Commissioner, has informed that a total 22,09,647 out of the 47,36,669 voters (46.65%) in the district have been mapped to their names in the SIR-2002 list during the pre-SIR mapping. The unmapped voters stand at 25,27,022.

House-to-house visits by the BLOs are set to begin from June 25 and continue up to July 24, during which the BLO must visit each house at least three times. They will distribute the enumeration forms to the existing electors on the rolls, and collect them back after they are filled in, besides assisting the electors in filling up the forms.

The forms will be given in duplicate, and one form will be left with the elector as an acknowledgement. In case any elector is not present, a family member may sign the form on their behalf. No document needs to be submitted along with the form.

Rationalisation of the polling stations too will be taken up during the process, before the draft electoral rolls are published on July 31. Claims and objections may be filed up to August 30, which will be disposed of by September 28. Final rolls will be published on October 1.

Mr.Karnan said Booth Level Agents (BLA) from recognised political parties too will be trained and given identity cards, for them to accompany the BLOs on their house-to-house visits. The BLAs are allowed to file applications in bulk, subject to the condition that each BLA should not submit more than 50 forms per day to the BLO before the draft publication and 10 forms per day thereafter.

Help desks have been established at the Electoral Registration Offices as well as at the offices of the District Election Officer. Mapped and unmapped elector data has been supplied to all recognised political parties. Assistance will be provided to the BLOs from NSS volunteers, NCC cadets, retired employees, NGOs and others. A sticker will be pasted at every household upon completion of the enumeration process.

Following the draft publication of the electoral rolls, the persons who could not be linked to the 2002 rolls, or whose details have discrepancies in the rolls, will be issued notices by the ERO. They will have to produce any of the 12 listed documents along with their reply.